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TANTRIC
THERAPY, TOUCH, AND MASSAGE Modern Tantra teachers speak of the 'ancient Tantric arts', when referring to practices that increase sensual pleasure, often confusing Kama Sutra with Tantra. Kama Sutra is about pleasure. Tantra is about Liberation. But Tantra has traditionally challenged taboos and fears, as a radical method to try to accelerate the path to Liberation. So, contrary to popular belief, Tantra is actually NOT about touch. There's no evidence that I know of that would point to Tantra traditionally being about touch, at least not with a focus on sensual pleasure. Many Tantric initiation systems traditionally did use a form of touch combined with understanding of the subtle energy body, also combined with the power to awaken energy, and with the powerful use of sound, or energy vibrations. Some of these initiation traditions are known as Shaktipat, or Nyasa. But regarding the type of Tantric Massage that is popular today, as far as I'm aware – in spite of claims of ancient origins – it is a totally modern concept. Ancient Tantra was focused on the same as ancient Yoga: Divine Communion, Self-Realization, Liberation. Touch, when used at all in ancient Tantra, was part of a process entirely focused on spiritual awakening and on unblocking energy for the sake of expanding consciousness – expanding consciousness all the way to 'Divine Communion'. But touch is an important aspect of our wellbeing, and today we are generally very deprived of touch. Many studies have shown the importance of touch for our emotional health and even for physical health, specially in our early development. Humans naturally crave connection, and need to feel the expression of that connection through touch. But our ability to give and receive touch is unconsciously regulated by fear and by 'civilized formality'. It is also shaped by our previous positive, or negative, experiences with touch. So, our ability to give or receive nourishing touch is influenced by our cultural and personal conditioning. If we look at Tantra as a way of challenging current taboos, and our conditioning, and also as having a kind of therapeutic role, then we can see that it's natural that modern Tantra has developed the inclusion of touch, because touch is still taboo to a surprising extent, even in modern culture. There is no doubt that touch can have profound effects when used with sensitivity, compassion and skill, together with grounded intuition. But it is a total oversimplification to make Tantra all about touch, in the same way that it is an oversimplification to make Tantra all about sex. The oversimplification of Tantra and the use of touch in therapy in some forms of Neo-tantric bodywork, without adequate sensitivity, grounding, intuition, or responsibility, is partly what is leading so many people, specially women, to be in risk of abuse during Tantric 'therapy'. There is no doubt that many teachers have taken advantage of their positions of authority and misused their power. But also, much of the abuse that students experience may be due to the teacher or 'tantric therapist' simply mis-reading people's needs, and misjudging their capacity to integrate what they are experiencing. It seems that frequently in modern or 'Neo-tantric' schools, there isn't adequate understanding of how trauma influences our behaviour, and so boundaries are crossed in ways that are inducing trauma instead of releasing people from trauma. We cannot be pushed beyond our boundaries without being held in the safety net of love – of trust. If we feel we are losing control, and don't feel adequate support, it can be deeply terrifying instead of liberating. Ancient Tantra was about transcending our boundaries but it was also inherently about relating in love with the Divine – experiencing all of life as sacred – meeting Life as an embodiment of the Divine Mother. Without this powerful, palpable sacred dimension, there is no safe ground to explore our boundaries. It's important to understand that Tantra in the West today is very different from ancient Tantra, both in its form and its purpose. Generally it could be said that Neo-tantra doesn't actually have a connection, or continuity, with the original Tantric traditions. In this sense, Neo-tantra is for the most part not really Tantra at all and is, at best, loosely inspired on ancient Tantra. Actually, it is inspired by a false image of Tantra, a caricature of the Tantric tradition, that has more in common with a different tradition – the tradition represented by the famous text called 'Kama Sutra'. The Kama Sutra is not dedicated to ultimate liberation, or to revealing the depths of our potential by exploring the frontiers of our consciousness. It does not provide the safety net that Tantra requires. So, for the most part, modern Tantra simply isn't what traditionally would be called Tantra. This doesn't mean that Neo-tantra isn't doing valid healing work. But when this healing work is also combined with the liberating power of the Tantra traditions that developed for spiritual Liberation, it is possible to support people profoundly by combining touch with some of the most powerful breathwork practices, plus meditation, visualization, energy activation, and energy cultivation. This synergy of practices can help us to experience transformation of physiological states and of our state of consciousness. Through a skilful use of touch in Tantric bodywork we can have not just an extraordinary sensual experience, or a momentary sense of connection, but also more deeply re-wire our nervous systems, reset our biochemistry, and reprogram our beliefs. But it is important to add... If our practice of Tantra is only opening doors to new pleasures, but not actually healing us at the deep level where our pleasure-seeking arises, then that practice isn't really aligned with the Tantric traditions – it isn't truly Tantra. It's not the specific technique being used that makes a practice 'authentically Tantric', it is the ability to apply a technique in service of the goal of Tantra. That goal is the deepest awakening of your potential. |
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I invite you to
rest in supreme contentment -
in Divine Communion with Life.
Here your life unfolds gracefully
as an expression of
your full potential,
experienced as
inspired
divine
play.
- Peter Littlejohn Cook
rest in supreme contentment -
in Divine Communion with Life.
Here your life unfolds gracefully
as an expression of
your full potential,
experienced as
inspired
divine
play.
- Peter Littlejohn Cook
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